Other Radio Streams from MPR

Services

Attendance at new MLB ballparks

by Steve Mullis, Minnesota Public Radio

July 16, 2010

This year the Minnesota Twins expect more than three million fans to come Target Field in downtown Minneapolis to watch the team - up from 2.4 million last year in the Metrodome. That's typical of the increase new ballparks enjoy in their first year. But a sustained boost isn't the guarantee that it was 10 or 15 years ago.

Over the last decade, several teams -- including Milwaukee and Pittsburgh -- have seen attendance drop off 20 percent or more as soon as the second year after opening a new ballpark.